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Gardening and farming in rural north Idaho has many joys and some challenges-- Zone 4 climate, plant predators/ visitors up to and including moose; sudden weather extremes (we get maritime weather off the Pacific and continental weather down from Alberta & BC). Specializing in herbs and fragrant plants led first to a keen interest in cooking with herbs, and then to soapmaking. Any one day's work might see fence fixing, pruning, soapmaking, gathering botanicals, oohing at the elk herd parading past.

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July 31, 2008

I hope you folks are getting vacations. Nursery folk don't get them in the summer, and often not at all. So go swimming for me!
It has been a very busy summer here, between watering everything in the 90+ heat, the market and caring for my Mom. Soapmaking slowed down a bit, and then there was a cool few days and I got rose petal, lavender and pansy jellies made--hope to get fireweed and more lavender done this week. Lavender harvesting is nearly done, different scents have been put down in olive oil for soapmaking and armloads dried for sachets. Lining out of plants for wintering over will begin shortly, funny to be thinking of winter now but that is part of the nursery cycle.
A favorite doe is once again bringing her fawn by for babysitting while she goes to water, it's a slice of nirvana to be so honored. Student robins are cheekily getting the strawberries and young turkeys are strolling along the roadside, tomatoes and cucumbers are ready now daily, definitely high summer.

Spam has gone up again, seems tidal, at any rate sometimes our email just can't cope and things get lost. If you have tried emailing us and gotten no answer, do try again--or drop a postcard. Some days I don't get near the internet, some days there is no connection, but neither rain nor . . .you know.

July 3, 2008

Not only is it wildly hot (circum 100F daily) but it's also humid, something we usually reserve for the winter rainy spells. Maybe not so ghastly for the plants who are losing more moisture than they can take up by their roots as they slow down photosynthesis in shock, to be enveloped in a blanket of moisture, but it is ghastly for non-plantlife. We've switched to siesta rules here, darting outside in mid-day only to move sprinklers. Our current weather is coming up out of Oregon across the Basin and you'd think the water would have been wrung out of it, and I am sadly thinking this is the spring rain being forced up out of the ground. Yuck. If this keeps up, I will have to get a wading pool again for me and the deer.